2022 HB Spiritual Emphasis addresses Peace, Truth, Justice in the Workplace
Spiritual Emphasis is an event in the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) when health workers, teachers and students of the various departments take a moment (one week) to seek God’s face and leadership at the workplace, hospital or school under one major theme that runs across the year.
Traditionally, the activity takes place in the CBC Health Services in the month of August when every health facility across the Board chooses a speaker to expound on the theme for that year. This year, the CBC Health Services Spiritual Emphasis held from August 24-26 and culminated with the Medical Day of Payer on Sunday, August 28, 2022 when health workers are sent to nearby churches to create further awareness of the Emphasis week and to educate the Christians and community on the various services offered by the health facility.
For three days (August 24-26), the close to 1000 workers that make up Nkwen Baptist Hospital and the CBCHS Central Administration in Bamenda, otherwise called, the Director of Health Services Office, filled up the Hospital’s Chapel every day to listen to the speaker, Rev. Chahbih Patrick Jam, Associate Pastor of Menda Baptist Church in-charge of Christian Education. The former CBCHS senior nurse, now pastor, holds a Masters degree in Divinity from the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary (CBTS) Ndu. With much mastery, he expounded on the theme, “The Legs of Shalom: Truth and Equity” from Isaiah 1:17 and Prov. 12:17.
Drawing inspiration from John 14:27 on day one, Rev. Chahbih defined shalom as a state of peace and wellness but went on to note that there can be no peace in the absence of truth and equity or justice. He said true peace only comes from above, reason why he called on the workers to put their faith in God in order to reap the fruit of peace, which is calmness of mind even in the face of injustice. The speaker challenged leadership to make policies that can favour the poor than use it as an instrument of oppression; supervisors, he added, should treat those under them with fairness, because God is just. “Justice can only be delayed but it would come when Jesus will bring the final justice,” the Man of God assured.
On the last day, Rev. Chahbih Patrick Jam examined how truth relates to peace. According to him, truth is like a bomb in cases that it is not accepted. Therefore, truth should be spoken in love in such a way that peace is restored. The Man of God noted that truth is dear to God because it builds trust, hence a healthy working environment. This, he said, is opposite to falsehood which pervades justice and puts the innocent at risk of punishment when the wrongdoer cannot own up to speak the truth. “This creates a tense working environment,” the speaker remarked.
Speaking on behalf of the Director of Health Services (DHS) who could not attend the last session, the Deputy DHS for Administration and Finance (DDAF), Mr. Warri Denis had kind and appreciative words for the speaker, Rev. Chahbih Patrick who in his usual calm spirit ‘scratched us where it itches’. The DDAF said Rev. Chahbih addressed the issues as an insider and wishes and prays for a day when he could return to feed CBCHS workers in a permanent manner. The DDAF equally saluted the Administrator of Nkwen Baptist Hospital, Mr. Kangong Joce and the chaplaincy department for the choice of the speaker and for excellent organization of this year’s Spiritual Emphasis in Bamenda.
Speaking to CBCHS Communication Unit, some of the staff remarked that this year’s Spiritual Emphasis had a sticky theme to address issues around the workplace. They praised God for using Rev. Chahbih Patrick Jam to address the issues in a pointing, calm and relaxed manner. They hope and pray that much will change for the better after this.